Defence Ministry: Allied decisions on defence taken at NATO Summit reflect in "substantial manner" national objectives

The allied decisions on defence taken at the NATO Summit in Brussels reflect in a "substantial manner" the national objectives, with emphasis on strengthening the allied presence on the Eastern Flank, including at the Black Sea, reads a press release issued on Thursday by the Defence Ministry (MApN) for AGERPRES. 

The quoted source informs that another important topic was the hosting of a NATO military corps command centre on the national territory, in order to strengthen the allied planning capacity in the Black Sea region. 

Denmark, Estonia and Latvia have announced plans to strengthen command-control relations in the Baltic Sea region by setting up a new division headquarters, and Italy has offered to provide a similar headquarters in support of activities to the South of the Alliance, according to the MApN. 

Minister of National Defence Mihai Fifor, attending the summit, presented to the defence ministers the national perspective on the coherence of the defence and deterrence posture and the process of adapting the North Atlantic Alliance to the new conditions of the security environment, in line with the tasks outlined in Warsaw in 2016 and the report of political-military assessments approved at the recently concluded NATO Summit. 

According to the MApN, he also stressed the importance of coherent allied defence from an integrated, 360-degree perspective so that NATO can develop its responsiveness to threats of any kind. In this context, Minister Fifor pointed out that an important part of this process is the full implementation of the forward presence on the allied Eastern Flank, both in the northern and southern segments. 

"It is absolutely necessary in the next period to discuss more consistently about the coherence of the defence and deterrence posture, so as to ensure that there are no strategic planning elements uncovered in the implementation of the forward presence on the entire allied Eastern Flank", the Romanian defence minister told the working dinner with the allied defence ministers. 

The NATO Summit provided the opportunity to intensify the Alliance's debates on the security situation in the Black Sea region, together with Ukraine and Georgia, covering a range of concerns such as: the geostrategic importance of the region for the Euro-Atlantic security amid consolidation of Russia's military capabilities in the region and the intensification of hybrid tactics, the press release also reads. 

At the headquarters of the Alliance, Minister Mihai Fifor had a very good exchange of views with US Defense Secretary James Mattis on the importance of implementing the decisions taken at the NATO Summit, including the initiatives aimed at Romania and our region, in the near future. 

In the context of his presence in Brussels, the defence minister had a meeting with US Reserve General James Jones, Head of the Allied Forces Allied Command Europe (SACEUR) in 2003-2006, with whom he had an exchange of views on the security developments in the Black Sea region, as well as the status of the allied initiatives in this area and on the territory of Romania, the quoted source also informs.